Estudos para a geografia da indústria no Brasil Sudeste

Resumo

This work represents the first studies on the Geography of Industry in the Southeast of Brazil, based on cartographic interpretation of statistical data and on bibliographic material, to be completed by later studies supported by field work.

         To begin with, the so-called Southeastern Region is defined as being the most highly industrialized in the country (73.3% of total manpower, 84.1% of applied capital, 84.3% of electric power consumption and 78.8% of the Brazilian industrial output), concentrating chiefly on basic industries, equipment, electric appliances and others that represent an advanced stage in the development of domestic industry. Within this Great Region, industrial activity is extremely concentrated, the two huge centers corresponding to the metropolitan areas of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro being outstanding, together with so-called metallurgical zone around Belo Horizonte and above all a stretch of the "Paulista" around Campinas. Contrasting with these geographical areas of important industrial activity, there are vast extensions of Southeastern Brazil almost entirely bare of manufacturing industry.

            It is precisely the extent to which industrial activity is concentrated in the areas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and in the Paulista region (Jundiai to Americana), bringing about sharp modification of the landscape owing to the reorganization of the available space, that enables a fundamental distinction to be drawn between the Southeast and the other Great Regions of Brazil. The phenomenon of strong concentration synchronized with increasing industrial diversification corresponds to the more recent phases or Brazilian evolution (from 1940 on), in which it is really possible to talk about a process of industrialization. Thus, the contrasts in the distribution of industrial activity in the interior of the Southeastern Region likewise reflect contrasts in evolution: stretches of country where former phases of industrialization made themselves felt, but which were not intensely involved in more recent stage, are marked by small centers of industry, decaying or only slowly progressing, and characterized by the predominance of textiles; they are offset by the more dynamic stretches, submitted simultaneously to the process of urban expansion.

            A review of the factors and conditions of industrialization shows that Brazilian industry is typically that of a new and underdeveloped country and explains its concentration in the Southeast. Historical origins are discussed in the light of European immigration, the "demographic explosion", townplanning, depression in the exportation of farm produce and protectionist measures, the world wars, inflation, foreign investment and post-war political ideas involving the action of the State as planner, financier and entrepréneur. The combination of these elements in the industrialization process is to be traced in the industrial framework, peculiar to a new and underdeveloped country: major importance attached to manufacturing consumer goods, both durable and non-durable; interest of foreign capital in certain kinds of industry; rivalry for skilled labour, etc.; industrial tradition in certain areas of the Southeast (Rio de Janeiro, for instance, was the main industrial center in the first decades of the twentieth century) linked to greater commercial activity and concentration of the urban population; wider consumer markets, related to agricultural development and a higher economic standard in the Region; the existence of trade organizations and services, including a more efficient transport system than in the other Regions; the presence of great ports; influx of a greater number of European technicians and immigrants to the large cities; favorable physical conditions for hydroelectric plants; iron ore deposits – all these conditions attracted industry to the Southeast of Brazil.

            Before proceeding to a study of the geographical distribution of industry, a description is given of the method used in handling quantitative data, their relative importance and qualitative interpretation. Particular emphasis was laid on the criterion. in respect of the numbers of workers employed and their significance as a section of the population, which involved the connection of industrial activity with other branches of human geography, e.g. geography of the population, services, habitat, and nearly always Urban Geography.

            The industrial centers are classified as: a) very large (more than 150,000 persons occupied in industry); b) large (10,000 to 50,000); c) average (4,000 to 10,000); d) small to average (2,200 to 4,000); e) small (1,200 to 2,200); f) ve1y small (850 to 1,200) and elementary (200 to 850). The distribution of the categories of industrial centers listed above is such that: 1. The great centers, with the exception of Belo Horizonte, are situated in the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo or in neighbouring regions. 2. Almost all the municipios (or counties) considered small to average and above are concentrated in three areas, where, naturally enough, the present process of industrialization is underway. The most important is centered in São Paulo and stretches over the São Paulo uplands in the direction of Franca and Bauru; the second, with Guanabara as its industrial heart, covers sections of the state of Rio de Janeiro and the Zona da Mata over the .state line in Minas Gerais; while the third gravitates about Belo Horizonte. Worth mentioning is a fourth industrial axis running from Rio to São Paulo via the Valley of the Paraíba.

            The first area, that of São Paulo, is characterized not only by the larger quantity of plants, manpower and output, but also a wider variety of manufactured goods, by the almost complete monopoly of certain lines of production and by deeper changes in the occupation of geographical space. The impressive concentration of industry includes the manufacture of automobiles, electric materials, machine tools, artificial fibers, etc.

            Within the city area of Rio de Janeiro there is considerable diversification of industry, the extent and efficiency of the partworks encouraging the development of shipbuilding, the manufacture of petrochemicals and other branches, whereas in the surrounding satellites textiles predominate.

            The Belo Horizonte area comprises extensive iron fields and metallurgical plants are a major feature industrial feature.

            The axis of the Paraíba Valley is dotted with a considerable variety of industrial plants, though certain sections are more highly specialized, e.g. the iron and steel industry at Volta Redonda.

            Each kind of industry them comes up for a more particular survey. The textile industry with its greater demand for manpower and high value of output, figures in almost every industrial center of any importance. In the course of a long period of development, it has become the outstanding element in the Geography of Southeastern Brazil, and is scattered all over the Region, either in the form of obsolete mills in the old declining centers or thoroughly up-to-date concerns in the large cities. The food industry is also widespread, but certain areas are characterized by particular output, e.g. dairy produce in the Paraíba Valley, the Zona da Mata, the South of Minas and certain western parts of that state; sugar in the north of Rio de Janeiro state; meat in Barretos, etc. The transformation industry using non-metallic minerals, which includes earthenware and ceramics, is likewise scattered fairly widely, being however denser near the great urban centers, besides being dependent on natural conditions, particularly in the case of cement plants which must be located near limestone deposits.

            The localization of the chemical industry is more concentrated and this tendency would be seen to be stronger were it not for the inclusion in this group of pharmaceuticals, perfumery, soap and candles, and the like. Similarly, if abstraction be made of the small town workshops of locksmiths, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, etc., metallurgy is found to be restricted in distribution. The degree of concentration is carried further in mechanical engineering, transportation and electrical engineering, the development of which in Brazil has been more recent, most oi these industrial activities, largely supported by foreign capital, being set up in the industrial area surrounding São Paulo, where industry and foreign investment go hand in hand.

            The region of São Paulo is characterized by diversity of output in the chemical industry, including artificial threads, fertilizers and petrochemicals; in manufacturing centers such as Santo André, São Caetano, Mauá and Cubatão, chemical plants are the fundamental element of the industrial and geographic structure. Equally diversified is the metallurgy of this region, us it that of Rio de Janeiro, while Volta Redonda and the Belo Horizonte area specialize in iron and steel. Mechanical engineering is not absent from Rio de Janeiro, but it is concentrated above all in the region of São Paulo, where among the variety rf plants, heavy industry is being developed. At the present time this region groups the national production of machine-tools, while the stretch from Jundiai to Piracicaba is largely devoted to the manufacture of farm implements and machinery and equipment for rural industry in general. As regards transportation, while shipbuilding is located principally along the shores of Guanabara Bay, the automobile industry has been set up in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. Finally electrical engineering is even more firmly entrenched in the region of São Paulo with the exclusive manufacture of fluorescent lamps, vacuum cleaners, kitchen mixers and beaters; 99% of the output of accumulators, blenders and washing machines; 95% flat irons, shower nozzles and sprinklers; etc.

            The following section refers to the characterization of the various territorial areas according to the types of industrial centers therein. This can be no more than a tentative definiton since the necessary field work data is lacking. For this first classification use was made of the total manpower employed in the industrial centers, the size of the plants in these centers and the products manufactured by them.

            The most highly industrialized areas in Southeastern Brazil are characterized by the presence of cities with plants of various sizes and centers specializing in industrial production with large factories. There are no concerns of such importance in little industrialized areas like the west of São Paulo state or the greater part of the territory of Minas Gerais. In this respect, where metropolitan areas are concerned, the state capital is distinguished from its suburbs and satellites by a variation in the industrial structure.

            The region of São Paulo is characterized by the presence of large industries and diversity of output, with specialization in some modern centers, such as Americana (textiles) and Cubatão (petrochemicals) .

            Certain goods like mechanical and electrical materials only acquire importance in poly: industrial centers. Textile and metallurgical goods. however, are responsible for the existence of numerous single-industry towns. The metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte are polyindustrial, with plants of varying sizes, but in the regions coming under their urban influence there are a great many monoindustrial centers, some of them with J:trge textile mills and others with extensive iron and steel plants.

            The next section deals with the problem of fuels in the southeast of Brazil. The industrial development of the Brazilian Southeast is. linked with the concentration of sources of energy and favorable geographical condition for the development of hydroelectric power. Technical advances in carrying electric power over long distances have made it possible to build large capacity plants on rivers flowing far back in the uplands for the purpose of supplying the industrial centers situated nearer the coast, which formerly had to rely on the smaller streams of the Serra do Mar. Along the power lines industrialization is striking inland, profiting by their proximity and avoiding the congestion of the great urban centers.   Similarly, the distinction between industrialized and non-industrialized areas in the Southeast of Brazil follows primarily a separation into areas provided or not with systems of transmission and subsequently the subdivision of these areas according to the existence or not of interconnection. The regions that profit the least from the development of electric power, like the Zona da Mata, are likewise the regions most afflicted with industrial stagnation.          Emphasis is also laid on the role of the oil refineries, built close to the ports of Southeastern Brazil and the construction of pipelines for overall. industrial development and particularly the manufacture o f petrochemicals.

            This 03 followed by a section analyzing the rate of industrial growth over the last twenty years and distinguishing certain areas where the drive has been especially powerful:

1. The region of São Paulo where, both in the state capital and in the other centers, an extraordinary increase has been recorded in the working population absorbed by the great number of new plants.
2. The metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, where the increase in manpower is concentrated in the suburbs.
3. The metallurgical areas in the Paraíba Valley and the central region of Minas Gerais. Other areas seem to be stagnating, though in places conditions are picking up, as in certain parts of the Paraíba Valley, while vast expanses of the Brazilian Southeast are still far removed from the advance of industrialization or completely paralyzed as in the ca3e of the Zona da Mata and the north of Rio de Janeiro state.

            Finally, a description is given of the organization of geographic space as a function of industrial activity. It is thus possibles to distinguish :

1. A region spreading out from the state capital of São Paulo and divided in to:
2. The metropolitan area of São Paulo;
3. The Paulista area;
4. A strip of the Paraíba Valley.

            The metropolitan area is a genuine industrial urban complex, such is the degree of geographical concentration of manufacturing activity, the variety and quantity of the output, supported, moreover, by basic industries; true industrial townscapes are to be found, with l:.Jocks of factories and workers housing sections. The nucleus is the city of São Paulo where, alongside of the large plants, numerous smaller concerns to business, while on the outskirts lie the suburbs and satellites under the domination of big industry.

            The paulista area is a veritable industrial area, in whose development the vicinity of the metropolis has played a fundamental role. It is, therefore, more recent from an industrial point of view and endowed with modern textile mills and mechanical, chemical and metallurgical engineering plants concentrated in important cities such as Jundiaí, Campinas, Americana and Piracicaba.

            The strip of the Paulista that lines the valley of the Paraíba comprises former textile centers that have acquired new industrial outlets owing to the influence of São Paulo, but have not yet gone so far as to develop in to any great industrial center.

1. Sorocaba area:

            This is a traditional textile area, with single-industry centers also coming under the influence of neighbouring São Paulo, but the transformations have been less intense than in the Paulista area, at least until quite recently.

1. Area o f transition to the west:

            This area marks the transition from the more industrialized areas aforementioned and mechanical activity (farm implements), besides the food industries that are a feature of thc west. Regional capitals like Bauru and Ribeirão Preto are of some industrial importance, but in general the area is given over to farming.

1. Area of the western São Paulo uplands and the Minas Gerais Triangle:

            In the absence of any great industrial centers, industry is confined to improving and processing farm produce. This area is definite!y rural and agricultural.

1. Region of Rio de Janeiro:

            In the second industrial region of the country, corresponding to the metropolitan area of Greater Rio de Janeiro, a port and city complex is clearly to be descried. A comparison with São Paulo area reveals a difference not only in the extent but also in the significance, which is lesser, of producer goods and industrial diversification. In the Guanabara area no industrial suburbs of the importance of those existing in São Paulo have as yet been built up. Those most often cited are Nova Iguaçu, Caxias and São Gonçalo.

1. Industrialized area of the Paraíba Valley:

            This stretches from Barra do Piarí to Cruzeiro, but special attention should be paid to the metallurgical area around Volta Redonda, which shows a tendency toward industria1 expansion with, in particular, the installation of chemical plants.

1. Mountain area along the Rio de Janeiro-Minas Gerais state line:

            This is a zone of traditional textile centers, at present not very progressive except for certain areas that show signs of industrial upsurge as in the case of Juiz de Fora.

1. Central area of Minas Gerais:

            All around, metallurgy is creating new centers and providing impetus for older ones. The traditional textile and metallurgical activity has gone through periods of stagnation, but at present a process of recovery is on the move thanks to the rapid advance of metallurgics, accompanied by that of other industries in the great urban centers. The fringe areas of Belo Horizonte show a tendency to develop into an important industrial nucleus.

1. Food industries and logging areas:

            The greater part of the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo is predominantly agricultural, with come transformation activity in the branches of food products and timber. Certain sugar-refining centers stand out, e.g. Campos.

            According to the industrial activity, these spaces take on various forms of regional organization, and a high level of urbanization has been reached in the most industrialized region o f them all, São Paulo.

            Between Santos and Piracicaba, many are the large and fairly large cities strung out at short intervals, linked by good paved roads and surrounded by development areas which are evidence of the continuous rate of urban expansion.

            In conclusion, a strong concentration of industrial activity is noted in the two metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, while in São Paulo state the industrial process is clearly shifting inland with the creation of the Paulista industrial region and an advance in other directions, as in the valley of the Paraíba. In the general orientation of the industrial set-up, a tendency can be observed of sticking to the axes of circulation that correspond to the traditional ways of marketing export products, for the most part coffee and minerals. The principle of radiating outwards from the metropolis does not hold good when applied to urban distribution, owing to the creation and development of cities like Volta Redonda and Americana exclusively in function of their industrial activity. The process of industrialization controls movements of population and trade, the construction of ways and means of transport, and the agricultural activities themselves that supply raw materials. It also has an influence on the technical progress of farming through fertilizers and machinery.

            The inner structure of cities is altered by the advent of industry, as much in the location establishments, as in the modification of urban residential sections or, further, in the intensification o f the tertiary sector and consequent reshaping of the center of activities.

            Finally, an attempt is made to situate Brazil within the industrial setting of the modem world, in as much as the industrialized part of Brazil is the Southeast of the country. Though still figuring as a nation that is subsidiary to the great powers which supply capital and investments, through the development of industry Brazil may prove to be the birthplace of a new process, due significance needing to be attached to our human element, now expanding, and to the continental dimensions of the country with their implications of potencial wealth in the form of mineral and agricultural products.

            The question of industrialization of Brazil is largely a problem of an economic nature, but, as regards its own line of development, industrial activity - to the extent that it is based on prerequisites that may be summed up briefly as professional training of wide layers of the younger population; reformulation of the investment of national savings; orientation of capital applied in industry; planned development of raw materials, both vegetable and mineral - Brazil may rise to be an example of industrialization in an underdeveloped country